Page 63 of Angel's Vengeance

All that remained was the helping hand to guide her safely the rest of the way, to do the big scary living-aboveground thing with her and tell her it would all be all right.

Instead, she was stuck in limbo as if she were waiting on a permit review from a town planning board.

It had been a few days since she’d brought up the wholeuse me as a decoyplan to Rhode and the others, and while she was satisfied in her determination that it was the only way to draw Cyro and the relic out from hiding, she’d also secretly hoped it would draw Rhode out of his shell as well.

Neela sipped down her coffee and tried not to think about how she hadn’t seen the man since then, except for late at night, as had become their custom, when he’d finally collapse into bed hours after her head hit the pillow.Her only indication that he’d even been there at all was the still-warm sheets next to her when she’d roll over in the morning, hoping to steal some time with him before something else called him away.

And that was what those moments had become, too.Theft.Any time at all she was able to snag from him ended up as brief encounters he seemed to oblige her in before giving some excuse and vowing to see her later, that he had to see to something, Iron needed him, and so on.

Somehow, they’d fallen into a rut of a routine again, where Neela’s presence appeared to be more tolerated than anything else.

It made things damn difficult when she kept trying to find the right time to talk to him.

There was so much more they needed to share, things she needed to say, truths he didn’t yet know, and they’d finally gotten to a point where she thought he might be ready to listen to her ...But no matter how urgently she wanted to grab the angel, tie him to a chair, and force him to hear what she had to tell him, other things would always command his attention.

I am a spy.

And I am a demon.

Always.

The nuance of everything else mattered very little, even in times when she’d hoped he’d gotten past it.

But the sunlightdidmatter, at least to her.Now that Neela had some exposure to it, she found it mattered very much.Man, did she love the stuff.Loved the heat of it on her skin, the way her cheeks hurt from squinting when she tried to find the sun behind the clouds.Loved the way it chased everyone outside so she could sit quietly in Molly’s restaurant and work up a good brood uninterrupted.

Some things, she was coming to realize, were just better in the sun.

Neela speared her fork into her eggs right as the door chimed.The soft gasps behind her was the first clue that the person who’d just walked in was one, a regular, and two, most likely part of the angel’s crew.

A small ember of hope struck flint in her chest.Did he know she was there?Had he finally come to see her?

“Neela.”

Aaand that ember promptly died on arrival but not before flicking its spark of curiosity northward.

Neela spun on her stool.“Chrome?”

Molly chose that moment to amble through the kitchen door and nearly spilled an entire pot of decaf on her foot when she stopped short.“Holy shit, you shaved!ThankGod.Drea’s been going through my facial moisturizer like crazy.Woman’s too polite to tell you that neck carpet of yours was abrading her skin at the rate of most flesh-eating bacteria.Seriously, how much neck play do you two do before moving on to other areas?Actually, you know what?”Molly raised her hand and closed her eyes.“I don’t want to know.Just glad to see you’re looking more like yourself, and thanks for the new drinking glasses.You didn’t have to get me new coffee mugs to go with them, though.”

“Yeah, I kinda did.And, uh, thanks,” Chrome muttered, then wiped a hand over his clean-shaven face.Neela didn’t miss the way he lingered longer than normal at his jawline, checking for overlooked hairs, or the way his newly shaven cheeks showed off the blush that had started to creep up toward his hairline.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Neela said.

“Same.”

“Want to sit down?”Neela offered him the stool next to her.

“Nah, I won’t be here long.I came to give you a ride.”

“A ride?I don’t need to go anywhere just yet.I was going to hang out a bit longer, maybe see if Molly needed help with anything.”

“Oh, I’m good!Totally good.A thousand million times good.Have fun!”Molly smiled and twirled her aproned ass back into the kitchen.What the hell was that about?

Chrome nodded toward her food and the sole remaining toast crust.“You finished?”

“Um.Yes ...but?—”

“There’s someone who asked me to bring you to him.”

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